Pilings are utilized in a variety of different environments and for many uses, e.g. in marine environments for supporting and reinforcing piers and vessel docking structures, in the construction industry for supporting and framing buildings, for structure supporting foundations, and supporting and maintaining raised homes and buildings in flood prone areas.
Regardless of the environment or context, pilings, which routinely and advantageously are wood or timber pilings, will eventually erode, deteriorate, rot or otherwise become damaged as a result of the passage of time, weather, wear and tear, wave and tidal action in marine situations, insect infestations, battering, etc. In many cases, the lower, less exposed section of the piling sustains far less damaged, since it is often not directly effected by weather, it is imbedded in the ground and/or, in marine circumstances, may have cathodic protection. As a result, when deterioration of or damage to the upper section of a piling has become very severe, even though the piling's lower section is in tact, the piling must be repaired or totally replaced.
This is especially significant where pilings are relied upon to maintain and support homes and buildings above ground in shore communities, near oceans, lakes or rivers. In these areas, damage from flooding often damages the upper sections of support pilings, requiring pile replacement.
However, total replacement of pilings is an expensive and involved process, especially in marine environments. Even the repair of pilings is quite costly and time consuming, since these types of repairs usually involve the construction of a wall, cofferdam, or like barrier around the piling, with the subsequent removal of ambient water, in order to provide a dry space in which to work.
These time-consuming processes and their resulting expense are exacerbated when major catastrophes create the need to address numerous piling failures. Property damage, such as occurred as a result of superstorm Sandy in 2012, highlights the need for effective, efficient, and economical means to repair deteriorated and partially destroyed pilings. Such is needed not only to connect in situ pilings to new pilings in routine situations, e.g. docks, piers, docking stations, etc., but also for emergent construction, for instance to renew damaged pilings which support raised homes and other building structures in flood plague locations. In fact, new government requirements since Sandy, require existing homes, buildings, and other shoreside structures to be built on timber pilings, raised to new elevations of up to three feet or more.